[Stones and Stories] Takemiya and the "Uchuryu": Asking About Your Path

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] The symbol of the "Uchuryu," Takemiya Masaki 9-dan. He is an indispensable name when choosing Japanese professional Go players favored by Koreans. The central part of the Go board, likened to the vast ocean, is his stage of activity. Was his fearless play toward the unknown world a resistance against existing order and common sense?

The more you watch, the more marvelous Takemiya's Go becomes. His questions do not remain on the board. He asks those standing before the path of choice whether the choice led by familiarity is truly the best way... Takemiya is a figure who boldly challenged the vast ocean. And that against the world's top Go players.

Go is a game where the player who secures the most territory wins. The easiest way to gain territory is to occupy the four corners of the board, called "gwi" (corners). Next is to attack the sides, the space between the corners. The center is the last choice. The center is vast but a space difficult to approach readily.

Professional Japanese Go player Takemiya Masaki 9-dan (left in the photo). [Photo provided by Korea Baduk Association]

Compared to a world map, it is like the Gobi Desert stretching endlessly across the Mongolian plains. That barren and abandoned land is hard to enter, and even if entered, it is difficult to gain what one desires.

Many players have drooled over the center but ultimately withdrew their interest, treating it as effectively neutral territory. While opponents were absorbed in the practical gains of corners and sides, Takemiya realized his grand dream based on the widest but abandoned land.

For many years, players continued moves centered on corners and sides because experience accumulated the judgment that it was a favorable strategy. However, Takemiya boldly broke the existing common sense. He proved his strength based on a thick territorial Go that values the center. It was a victory that scolded the foolishness of opponents who sought victory by obsessing over "small gains."

Uchuryu may seem like endlessly leisurely moves, but in fact, there is a hidden blade within. Opponents who steadily accumulate practical gains around corners and sides lead in the early territorial battle. But watching the center, which may become a huge territory, causes anxiety.

At that moment, the opponent plays a move entering the "tiger's mouth." Takemiya, who had built strength in the center, counters the opponent's attack and begins hunting the large group. The Go proverb that you lose if the opponent's territory looks bigger was not created without reason.

The corners and sides are under the opponent's influence, but the center is Takemiya's favorable area. This style of play puts the opponent into a dilemma. The background that allowed Takemiya to prepare such a strategy was the courage to carry out a "bold challenge."

Even if conceding practical gains to the opponent in the early game, the strategy is to quietly continue one's own Go until the right moment comes. It is a path that cannot be chosen without self-discipline. The more the opponent's favorable flow continues, the darker the shadow of defeat becomes.

Waiting is pain. But now, one cannot collapse under temptation. Enduring the pain of waiting, the counterattack move is made. Finally, the situation in Go turns. It is the moment when a new waiting toward the trumpet of victory begins.

Takemiya conveyed life lessons through Go. The fruit of innovation that changes the world is a divine blessing that only those who carry out bold challenges can taste...

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.